The purpose of the grant is to
help develop and bring to market PolyMet, which aims to be the first
commercially accessible process for removing the pigment in coloured rigid
plastic without destroying the polymers.

It has the potential to create a
new market for currently low-value unrecycled plastics through the production
of reusable plastic feedstock and will help to mitigate the negative impact of
coloured plastics on the environment by diverting them away from landfill and
into a circular economy, said Ecosurety.

The UK alone sends an estimated
one million tonnes of coloured, rigid plastics to landfill or incineration
annually, as this plastic, particularly black, can’t be detected by machines
used in the sorting process and the dark pigment limits its use, said the
recycling compliance firm.

Impact Solutions’ PolyMet
technology uses a chemical process to remove the pigment from coloured rigid
plastics without destroying the original plastic polymers.

After the pigment is removed,
PolyMet-treated plastic becomes a material that can be put into the plastic
manufacturing process as a high-value recyclate.

By using PolyMet in line with
current recycling processes, a significant new stream of plastic feedstock
could be created by reprocessors at high volume and low cost.

Plastic manufacturing firms could
incorporate the additional recycled plastic into their virgin resin grades,
helping them to reach the 30% recycled plastic target recently proposed by
Government in the packaging consultations.

An Ecosurety analysis has found
that increasing the number of plastic PRNs by 1% could trigger a 10% reduction
in their price, thereby helping to stabilise the price of recycling evidence
for producers while helping the UK build a circular plastics economy.

Impact Solutions innovation
manager Tom Rose said: “As plastic technology specialists, finding a solution
to the 3.5 million tonnes of plastic material currently being dumped in
landfill by the UK each year was a challenge we couldn’t resist.

“This £0.8 million Innovate grant
is welcome recognition of the work we have undertaken so far and an endorsement
of the positive impact that PolyMet could have for producers, reprocessors and
on the environment.

“We look forward to working with
Ecosurety, Impact Recycling and McLaren Plastics over the next two years with
the shared vision of creating a new technology that can transform the UK
recycling market through increased capacity, revenue and jobs.”

“We are delighted that the huge
potential of this collaboration has been recognised by Innovate UK and look
forward to working with Impact Solutions over the next two years.”

This innovate UK grant will see
Ecosurety provide consultancy support on the two-year PolyMet project, while
McLaren Plastics will specify post-process material properties and validation
of material suitability for injection moulding.

The vision for PolyMet is to
become a low-cost technology that can easily be incorporated into existing
recycling facilities, and by providing an alternative to plastic material being
landfilled or incinerated, PolyMet could create jobs across the UK.
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